


Lovely Little Graveyard Ditty

by palomino333



Category: L.A. Noire
Genre: Coffee, Death, Friendship, Gallows Humor, Gen, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-03 03:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4084396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palomino333/pseuds/palomino333
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for a flash fiction challenge: Unpaired Words. "People cried when the coroner came, so the coroner had to laugh."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lovely Little Graveyard Ditty

Live fast and die young, save a lovely corpse for the casket. Foolish young men ran with the mob to grasp a sense of adventure, and unlucky ones found no other choice than to join. Taking a string of bullets, they met a gruesome end. They were covered with a sheet, and their caskets closed, their faces never to be seen again. Some family members skipped the funeral, too ashamed to admit they were related. Others did not know that a family member was lost, being unable to identify him, his face and body too mutilated for identification. Sons simply "disappeared" from sight.

Runaways, drifters, the unwanted, Los Angeles took them all in its underbelly. Go west, young man, to a land of plenty.

The body was considered a temple by the Greeks, the Discobolus epitomizing the male form, and the Venus de Milo the female. To Carruthers, the bodies were little more than meat, chopped and burned like hamburger. He got used to eating before going to work, and probably going without meals afterwards in his younger years. In his veteran years, however, he found he could eat without feeling sick again. Some things training just didn't teach, especially the smell of decomposition, or the fact that a body would be thrown, naked, into a dumpster.

He appreciated Pinker's sense of humor over the whole affair. The coroner wasn't exactly the man that was invited to parties, but nevertheless, the coroner could tell jokes. One had to in order to get through each day.

Death came for every man. Still, it was unfortunate when it happened to someone who was close. Deaths destroyed families. He saw it too many times. The golden child was wept over by the parents. The spouse was missed by the lovebird and children. Groups of friends who blamed one another for the loss of one of their own drifted away from each other.

People cried when the coroner came, so the coroner had to laugh.

Perhaps it was why Carruthers was more of a loner, drifting from the pack with his taciturn behavior. Pinker was more of an optimist, lightening with the mood with innocent humor (though that was occasionally in debate, considering how Pinker's little "experiment" concerning the blown Nicholson Electroplating factory had knocked first Carruthers unceremoniously on his ass, followed by Phelps).

Rubbing at his eyes at six in the morning, Malcolm would sometimes wish Ray would wipe that stupid smile off his face before serving him a cup of joe, which he had ready for him every day. He appreciated it, nonetheless, despite his bleary eyes sometimes making it hard to show.

He couldn't help but wonder, then, if Ray appreciated the round he'd buy for him every Friday night that they weren't busy. Ray's comradely smile over a draft beer, however, was proof enough as the reapers hung up their scythes for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Unpaired Words. Unpaired words are words that are (usually) paired with prefixes or suffixes and, according to normal grammar usage, should have usable words when those prefixes/suffixes are removed but do not, or their base words have faded into obscurity. Choose at least one from the master list to use in the fanfic. My choice: Innocent (Nocent) - Not an exact antonym; rarely used
> 
> Words: 492
> 
> Inspiration for this one came from watching the episode, "Happy Family Planning," from Paranoia Agent.


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